Dental appliance



March 25 1924. 1,488,099

L. DE FERNELMQNT DENTAL APPLIANCE Filed March 16, 1923 ATTORNEYS v INVENTOR Patented at 25, 1924.

T F HQ i DENTAL APPLIANCE.

Application filed March 16, 1923. Serial No. 625,576.

To all wit-omit may concern: r Y

Be it known that I, LEON on FERNELMONT,

a citizen of the United Eitates, andzresident of Clifton, in the county of Passaioand State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in. Dental Appliances, of which thefollowing is a specification.

In dental work when it was desired to melt wax for various purposes as, for instance, for aflixing artificial teeth in place on plaster models, it has been the custom to pick up a small quantity of solid wax on the end of a spatula, hold it in the flame of a Bunsen burner until the wax was melted and then to flow the wax over the required part of the tooth and model. 'It ofttimes happens that the wax while being so held in the flame would drop off from the spatula into the burner and thereby clog up the gas opening therein. This method of melting the wax was slow, uncertain and time con- 'suming.

The object of my invention is to eliminate these disadvantages by the provision of a dental appliance including a heating tray for the wax, which tray surrounds the flame tube of the burner and may be adjusted upwardly and downwardly along the flame be conducted from the flame tube to the tray for melting the wax to the desired condition.

Practical embodiments of my invention are represented in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 represents my dental appliance in top plan.

Fig. 2 represents the same in side elevation.

Fig. 3 represents a vertical transverse section taken in the plane of the line TIL-III of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 represents a detail view partly in side elevation and partly in section, showing a modified form of heating tray.

The Bunsen burner in connection with which my invention is illustrated maybe of the well known type in which the base 1 is provided with the usual gas inlet tube 2 tube toward and away from the flame, where by a greater or lesser amount of heat may and the'upright flame tube 3.

' The tray for holding the wax to be melt ed isdenoted by 4 and it may be made of sheet metal or. other suitable heat conducting material. This tray is provided with a centrallyv arranged sleeve 5 which is of the re quired shape and size to snugly embrace the flame tube 3 and to serve as a medium for conducting the heat from the flame tube to the tray for melting the wax to a greater or lesser extent. The sleeve 5 of the tray uprises from the bottom thereof a suflicient distance to keep the wax from contact with the flame tube.

The tray may be moved upwardly and downwardly along the flame tube toward and away from the flame to different positions for causing a greater or lesser amount of heat to be conducted from the flame tube to the tray for more or less melting the wax contained therein. The tray may be held in its adjusted positions by the frictional contact of the sleeve with the flame tube. If so desired, the sleeve may be provided with a split portion for this purpose. In Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive the split portion, denoted by 6, is located at the upper end of the sleeve. In Fig. 4.- I have shown the split portion 7 in the lower end of the sleeve which, in this instance, depends from the bottom of the tray. 7

In practice I preferably provide two of these trays so that the wax in the two trays may be subjected to different degrees of heat. I have shownthe lower tray as greater in diameter than the upper tray. It will be seen that the wax in the lower tray will be melted to a lemer degree than the wax in the upper tray. This is very desirable under certain conditions where larger quantities of the Wax of semi-liquid form are needed at one time than could be obtained from the upper tray. This lower tray may also be used as a reserve container for supplying wax to the upper tray, when so desired.

It is evident that my appliance may be used for melting other materials than wax and that it could be used in connection with other types of burners than Bunsen burners.

It is also evident that various changes may be made in the construction form and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit and scope or my 1nvention; hence, I do not wish to be limited to the particular embodiments herein shown and described, but

VVha-t I claim is 1. In a dental appliance, a burner com- -prising a suitable base having a gas inlet tube and upright flame tube, and a heating tray surrounding the flame tube and provided with a sleeve frictionally embracing said flame tube for adjustably positioning the tray upwardly and downwardly along the tube toward and away from the flame.

In a dental appliance, a burner comprising a suitable base having a gas inlet tube and upright flame tube, and a heating tray surrounding the flame tube and provided with a sleeve frictionally embracing said: flame tube for adjustably positioning the tray upwardly and downwardly along the tube toward and away from the flame, said sleeve uprising from the bottom of the tray a sutficientdistance to keep the con tents of the tray from contact with the flame tube.

In testimony. that I claim the foregoing is my invention, I have signed my name this 15th day of March, 1923.

LEON on FERN ILMONT. 

